Garland Stansell, the Chief Communications Officer for Children’s of Alabama, and the 2020 National Chair of PRSA shares his insight on a number of key ethics issues, including:
• Why sharing the bare minimum is often not the best course
• Why you must address issues head on when you are considered guilty by association
• Why we must resist the tyranny of urgency
• How every ethical PR professional can counteract negative perceptions of the profession
Today starts a new chapter in EthicalVoices. Every Thursday I will share ethical issues of the week. The objective is to highlight key issues for educators to use in their classrooms and professionals to use in their organizations.
This week we look at the corporate ethics gap, disinformation and how cheating is not condoned.
Melanie Ensign the head of security, privacy, and engineering communications for Uber discusses:
1) Why the best PR pros focus on stopping fires before they begin, rather than responding to a crisis
2) The ethical and cognitive challenges of marketing with FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt)
3) Why SCUBA diving is a great guide for change management
4) Common ethical mistakes with measurement – and why we need to stop confusing coverage with action
Tim O’Brien, the founder of O’Brien Communications and host of the Shaping Opinion podcast discusses the ethical dangers of deplatforming and relative ethics.
Jim Lukaszewski, one of America’s most respected crisis and ethics counselors for the C-Suite at global brands, discusses:
• How to most effectively counsel senior executives around ethics issues
• How to speak up and be heard when you notice an ethical lapse
• How all ethics lapses are intentional and what it means
Blake Lewis, the Principal and Founder of Three Box Strategic Communications. Discusses a number of key ethics topics, including:
• Ethical traps for Millennials and Gen Z
• The importance of discernment
• How to make ethics training a regular part of your culture
• How compromise can destroy who you are
Mark Dvorak the executive director of Golin Atlanta and an expert independent consultant, discusses the three biggest threats to ethical behavior in public relations. During the interview he also shares his insight on a variety of topics, including: what ethical guideposts to use when you are facing a new situation and how managers should support their employees in difficult ethical situations.
Dr. Joe Trahan, a 30+ year PR pro, retired Lt. Col and media trainer for more than 3,000 people a year, shares his ethics insights in a captivating interview. He discusses:
• How to save your soul when you are in an unethical company
• How fake news is eroding public trust
• Why public relations professionals and PRSA need to be stronger advocates for our profession
• The importance of standing up for what you believe in even in the face of unspeakable threats of violence
Kim Sample, president of the PR Council discusses a number of key ethics issues, including:
• How to handle unethical client requests
• Best practices for building an ethical agency culture
• Ethical challenges with controversial clients and employee activism
Mike Neumeier, the CEO of Arketi Group, shares his insight on how PR pros can deal with ethics issues, including:
• What to do when a manager or competitor overpromises
• How and when to disclose
• Unexpected challenges with paid media